Vuelta a España - Exciting or Trying too hard

The Vuelta a España has been one of the Grand Tours and a regular on the calendar since 1955, but many people think it should hang it’s cycling shoes up and give the sport for another race.

Bing or Bust?

So what did the 2011 edition of the Vuelta a España do to quell its critics and was it exciting or just trying too hard. It certainly wasn’t the easiest, in a year where the Grand Tours have really challenged the riders in the extreme. The 2011 Vuelta was not one for the light hearted and I think it produced some of the most exciting racing this year. None of the “flat stages” were ever really flat and with gradients that reached 23%, you had t dig deep.

Video: Final Stage of the 2011 Vuelta a Espana

The first video is the peloton and the support vehicles going through after to finish their third lap of the Madrid circuit.

La Vuelta a España 2011 - Stage 21 - Gallery

La Vuelta a España 2011 - Stage 21, a set on Flickr.

A collection of my photos taken during the final stage of the 2011 Vuelta a Espana. Sorry there are only descriptions for some, but I will get around to updating them all.

Video: La Vuelta 2011 - Stage 21

So I popped down to Madrid and took in the final stage of this year's Vuelta a Espana and I wasn't dissapointed. Juanjo Cobo's fans were out in force, with their drums and cowbells, making a brilliant atmosphere. I even managed to find a few of the riders after the stage and took a lot of pictures. So here are a few of the pictures I took, set the the Vuelta's theme tune Como Yo, by La Fe de Manuela. I am currently uploading my pictures to Flickr and they should all be on the blog by tomorrow, so enjoy the video.

VaE: Cobo takes red as Sky falter on the Angliru

Juan Jose Cobo assumed the lead of the Vuelta a Espana, after a solo attack up the very difficult Alto de l’Angliru on stage 15.

Cobo went off the front, with 6km left, and never looked troubled, even on the 23% sections. The Spaniard kept pedalling at a constant rate, which enabled him to gradually pull out a big enough gap to take the red jersey. In contrast Bradley Wiggins struggled and even began to weave across the road, on certain sections.  By the time he reached the finish line, he had been distanced by his teammate Chris Froome.

Nobody was aware of the distancing until they came to the line, as the camera bike following them succumbed to the gradient and fell over. With the time bonuses taken in to account, Cobo now sits at the top of the GC with Froome 20 seconds behind him and Wiggins down to third. The directors at team Sky will have a tough rest day, deciding who will assume the race leadership. Wiggins may now be forced to work for Froome, to try and ensure Sky leave the race with the red jersey.

VaE: Nibali blows as Wiggins confirms his Vuelta lead on Stage 14

Bradley Wiggins may not have won the stage, but he looks like he may have just won the Vuelta, after a superb ride by himself and Chris Froome, on Stage 14.

Froome really put the hammer down, with two kilometres to go and immediately began to shell riders off the back of the peloton. Wiggins made sure to keep a tight hold of his Kenyan-born teammate’s back wheel and even took a few turns on the front. Next came the unexpected and Vincenzo Nibali popped and fell off the back.

The Italian was probably regretting not making a go of it on one of the several descents, which preceded the final climb. Joaquin Rodriguez couldn’t keep up with the pace either and was quick to join Nibali’s pity party, further down the mountain. When the finish finally came Wiggins had put a huge 1 minute 16 seconds, between himself and the defending champion. The effort really showed on the red jersey holder, after the finish line, as he slumped on to the front of his handlebars.

VaE: Moncoutie moves closer to fourth consecutive mountains classification, with victory on Stage 11

David Moncoutié’s efforts finally paid off, as he rode the final 19 kilometres of Stage 11 alone, to take his fourth Vuelta a Espana stage.

Moncoutié is known for his climbing prowess and moved himself within one point of a fourth consecutive Vuelta mountains classification victory. The Cofidis rider got in to a breakaway, with several other riders, after almost 70 kilometres of racing. He also went on to take points on two of the three climbs, placing him just behind Matteo Montaguti.

Cofidis have had a lacklustre year, when it comes to Grand Tours, so this victory will prove a big boost for them. Nobody could keep up with the pace of Moncoutié and second place man Beñat Intxausti rolled across the line over a minute down.

Video: Joaquim Rodriquez interview/ entrevista (in Spanish)

VaE: Rodriguez doubles up for Katusha on Stage 5

Joaquin Rodriguez doubled Katusha’s stage tally, after a solid performance from his team, as took victory in Valdepeñas de Jaén.

Katusha controlled the final kilometres of the stage and used, yesterday’s winner, Daniel Moreno to launch Rodriquez to the line. The Spaniard has come in to the Vuelta with good form, after winning the Vuelta a Burgos. Moreno’s performance has moved him in to within nine seconds of the overall lead, with Rodriguez 14 second behind him.

Wout Poels was the man who separated the two on the stage, a late surge from him fell just short of the victory. Michele Scarponi and Nicolas Roche have helped their GC contentions, both finishing just 11 seconds down on the winner. Last year’s winner Vincenzo Nibali crossed the line 4 seconds later and sits 5^th in the GC. He will take some beating, if anyone wants to take the Vuelta crown away from him.

Vuelta a Espana - Team Preview, Part 1

AG2R La Mondiale

One of only two French teams, in the race, AG2R will be looking to show what they couldn’t, in this year’s Tour de France. Nicolas Roche will be looking to improve on his seventh place, from last year, but his lacklustre year could play against him. Joining him will be Guillaume Bonnafond, Dimitri Champion, Cyril Dessel, Steve Houanard, David Le Lay, Lloyd Mondory, Mathieu Perget and, the only other non-French rider, Matteo Montaguti. It is unlikely that the French team will really trouble the top GC positions, but they could gain another top-ten placing.

Joaquin Rodriguez claims victory at the Vuelta a Burgos

Joaquin Rodriguez took his first general classiment win, of the year, with victory in the Vuelta a Burgos.

Rodriguez was pipped to the line, by the defending champion Samuel Sanchez, on the first stage, but fought back for overall victory of 2011. Sanchez tried to sneak victory again, on the final stage, but the 21 second lead was too much. The Katusha rider looked comfortable, as he left the Tour de France King of the Mountains, on the final climb of the tour.

After looking like he would take the time back from Rodriguez, Sanchez ended up losing 1 minute 14 seconds. Rodriguez had the legs, after missing this year’s Tour de France and claimed the overall victory, by 34 seconds, ahead of his teammate, Daniel Moreno. Sanchez started the day in fourth and remained fourth, after losing time to Juan Jose Cobo Acebo.

Contador secures Giro with stunning time-trial victory

Alberto Contador stormed to victory during stage 16’s mountain time-trial and stamped his authority on the 2011 Giro D’Italia.

Contador looked to be struggling during the middle section on the climb and had to come out of the saddle on several occasions. El Pistolero came home over 30 seconds ahead of closest rivals Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi. Nibali seemed to have the stage wrapped up with his time of 29:29, which Scarponi couldn’t match.

2011 Giro D'Italia Start List Announced

Stefano Garzelli

ACQUA & SAPONE
1 Stefano Garzelli (ITA)
2 Massimo Codol (ITA)
3 Claudio Corioni (ITA)
4 Alessandro Donati (ITA)
5 Ruggero Marzoli (ITA)
6 Vladimir Miholjevic (CRO)
7 Danilo Napolitano (ITA)
8 Cayetano Sarmiento Tunarrosa (COL)
9 Fabio Taborre (ITA)

VaE: Mark Cavendish beat JJ Haedo to his third victory in La Vuelta

Mark Cavendish took his third victory just ahead of JJ Haedo in a sprint in stage 18 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana.

The Manxman had a good start to the tour winning the team time-trial, but he went through a brief barren patch during the first week. He took his first victory back in stage 12 and he’s won every sprint since then. The 25-year-old has extended his lead in the green jersey competition and it looks likely that he will wear it in Madrid.

It has been a good day for the HTC Columbia team who took a sprint victory in the guise of Andre Greipel in stage five of the Tour of Britain.

VaE: Peter Vilets takes surprise win as Rodriguez loses the red jersey again in Stage 17

Peter Velits took a surprising victory in today’s 45km time-trial in Peñafiel beating Denis Menchov as Joaquin Rodriguez lost his red jersey after a terrible day on the bike

Velits rode himself up the classification overtaking Nicolas Roche, Frank Schleck and Rodriguez to put him in a podium position with less than a week to go. The HTC Columbia man had been sixth place, but was able to take advantage of tail winds towards the end of the course to boost his time.

Rodriguez has a Bad Day
Rodriguez struggled to keep the speed up and lost over four minutes on his closest rivals tumbling down the timings. The Spaniard held a lead of 33 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Nibali at the start of the day, but he now lays down in 5th 3’45 down on the Italian.

Nibali had his own heart stopping moment when he got a puncture on his front wheel. The Liquigas rider went for the spare bike as his mechanic went to put a new wheel on his bike. After a brief moment of confusion he was back on his bike, but he lost around 20 seconds in the change.

Menchov went someway to salvaging his 2010 tour; the Russian has won this tour twice in 2005 and 2007 but he has failed to impress so far and was lying 42nd over an hour behind the leader Joaquin Rodriguez. Menchov put in a brilliant ride to beat Swiss World Champion Cancellara by 25 seconds.

La Vuelta - Week two Round-Up

The second week started with a sad note after the news of the death of Team Sky masseur Txema Gonzalez who contracted a bacterial infection that turned in to septicaemia. The team pulled out of the tour weakened already by three riders dropping out through illness.

Stage eight from Villena to Xorret del Catí saw the eighth different rider to win a stage in the 2010 Vuelta. David Moncoutie got in to the decisive breakaway of the day and was able to pull away on the final climb finishing almost one minute ahead of the forever bridesmaid Serafín Martinez. The Cofidis rider dedicated his victory to Gonzalez and Laurent Fignon, who died a couple of days earlier.